Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Candidates You May Have Missed: Sean Duffy (R-WI)

In the sixth entry of my weekly article - I decided to discuss a celebrity candidate. He's not like many other celebrity candidates we've seen (ex. Barack Obama, Al Franken, Arnold Schwarzenegger). He's a conservative with a solid political background for the role he's seeking. This man is running for Wisconsin's 7th Congressional district. He has a wealth of experience as the Ashland County District Attorney, he currently boasts a 90% success rate. Prior to that, he served on the Governor's Pardon Board for 6 years. In the open seat of former Congressman Obey (D), this man announced early and out fundraised most any opponent Obey has had in years. This 38 year old man was endorsed by former Governor Sarah Palin in February. Who is this man? Sean Duffy.

On Duffy's website, you can read through his accomplishments...his personal accomplishments as well as professional. The tenth of eleven children, Duffy got into log rolling at an early age. At 18, he won his first World Lumberjack Championship in the 60-foot speed climb. He has 2 more world championships under his belt for this category. He's a father with five children. Professionally, Duffy has a wealth of legal experience as Assistant District Attorney and later Attorney for Ashland County. He also served on the Pardon Board under a Democratic Governor of Wisconsin. Now all this is good to know about a candidate - including his elected experience (winning reelection 3 times as District Attorney). But how is this young man a celebrity? Well, in 1997 Duffy was on "The Real World: Boston" He was later on "Road Rules: All Stars" in 1998, where he met his wife.

What does this tell us about the man? He's a lawyer with elected experience, has served his constituents well, and knows how to handle national media. What it doesn't tell us is where Duffy stands on the issues. His platform will tell you that. On taxes he has some interesting ideas -

Reduce the marginal tax rate on individuals and small businesses.

Make overtime tax-free. Why should you pay more for working longer and harder? The government should stop punishing hard work. Once you have put in over 40 hours a week, the government should lay off what you earn.

Expand the per child tax credit from $1000 to $3000 per child. Anyone who has bought diapers, formula, or jeans or who has paid for a school computer or school tuition knows that the cost of raising children goes up and up. Our children are more worthy of our tax dollars than a distant bureaucratic office in Washington

On healthcare?

The recent passage of health care legislation will come not only at a significant cost to taxpayers’ finances, but to our freedom.

The health care takeover fails to address the primary purpose of healthcare reform - reducing cost. Instead of working to make health care more affordable for all Americans, Congress created a healthcare bill that expands entitlements and government control. By failing to address cost containment, their healthcare scheme becomes sustainable only through the rationing of services. That means restricted access to health care for you and your family...I support:

1. Eliminating discrimination against people with preexisting conditions from getting health insurance.2. Allowing private individuals to join larger private insurance cooperatives or associations in order to derive the cost benefits afforded to people who are insured through large corporations.3. Permitting individuals to purchase insurance across state lines4. Encouraging individuals to purchase insurance by allowing them to write off their insurance premiums as a tax deduction.5. Reforming our tort laws so doctors are not saddled with costly malpractice premiums that drive up costs.

Between Duffy's solid grasp on the issues, relevant experience, and his extreme telegenic personality, Duffy is a solid candidate to take on this currently Democratic controlled district. If you are interested in learning more about Sean Duffy, check out his website. If you like what you see, donate to his campaign. If we hope to make a difference in 2011 - we need more Sean Duffys, Joe Millers, and Jeff Duncans in Congress across this country. Keep an eye out and feel free to drop in the comment section suggestions for other great candidates we could profile.